Chapter 3
What five theories explain why we dream?
1. Freud's wish-fulfillment (dreams as a psychic safety valve) 2. information-processing (dreams sort the day's events and form memories) 3. physiological function (dreams pave neural pathways) 4. neural activation (dreams trigger random neural activity that the mind weaves into stories) 5. cognitive development (dreams reflect the dreamer's developmental stage)
What five theories explain our need for sleep?
1. sleep has survival value 2. sleep helps us restore and repair brain tissue 3. during sleep we consolidate memory traces 4. sleep fuels creativity 5. sleep plays a role in the growth process
Blindsight
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.
Those working in the interdisciplinary field called ______ ______ study the brain activity associated with perception, thinking, memory, and language.
Cognitive Neuroscience
Which of the following is a stress hormone that stimulates the body to make fat?
Cortisol
Delta waves
Deepest sleep, brain activity slows down
Organizing ad interpreting information simultaneously.
Dual processing
Change blindness
Failing to notice changes in the environment.
Inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
Hallucinations
False sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of an eternal visual stimulus.
The distinction between manifest content and latent content is central to ________ theory of dreams.
Freud's wish-fulfillment
When is the use of hypnosis potentially harmful?
Hypnosis can be harmful if used to "hypnotically refresh" memories, which may plant false memories.
States of consciousness
In addition to normal, waking awareness, consciousness comes to us in altered states, including daydreaming, sleeping, meditating, and drug-induced hallucinating.
Alcohol dependence
Known as alcoholism. Alcohol us marked by tolerance, withdrawal is suspended, and a drive to continue use.
The experience of vivid geometric images and dreamlike scenes is most likely to be triggered by
LSD
Bright light inhibits our feelings of sleepiness by influencing the production of
Melatonin
NREM-3
Minimal awareness
Sleepwalking is most likely to be associated with ________ sleep.
NREM-3
Which sleep disorder is most likely to be accompanied by sleepwalking and sleeptalking?
Night terrors
What are the mind's two tracks?
Our mind has separate conscious and unconscious tracks that perform dual processing.
Sleep
Periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness-as distinct form unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
When is the use of hypnosis helpful?
Posthypnotic suggestions have helped alleviate some ailments, and hypnosis can also help control pain.
A recurring sleep stage during which most vivid dreams commonly occur is known as ________ sleep
REM
Deeply asleep, but EEG pattern similar to awake
REM--dream stage
REM sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.
Cognitive development
Some researchers argue that we dream as part of brain maturation and cognitive development.
REM
Story like dream
Activation-Synthesis Theory
Suggests that the brain engages in a lot of random neural activity. Dreams make sense of this activity.
Circadian rhythm
The biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle.
Selective attention
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).
Dual processing
The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
Heritability
The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.
Alpha waves
The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
What is the process that leads to drug tolerance?
With repeated exposure to a psychoactive drug, the drug's effect lessens. Thus, it takes bigger doses to get the desired effect.
Psychoactive drug
a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods.
Physical dependence
a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued.
LSD
a powerful hallucinogenic drug also known as acid.
methamphetamine
a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood chafes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels.
Psychological dependence
a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions.
dream
a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. Dreams are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it.
Night terrors
a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of bering trifled; unlike nightmare, night terror occur during NREM-3 sleep, within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
Sleep apnea
a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.
Narcolepsy
a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM spell, often at inopportune times.
Hypnosis
a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
Dissociation
a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.
Nicotine
a stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco.
Posthypnotic suggestion
a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
Ecstasy (MDMA)
a synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.
Classical conditioning
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.
Manifest content
according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content).
Latent content
according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as distinct from its manifest content)
Near-death experience
an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death; often similar to drug induced hallucinations.
Alpha waves
awake, relaxed
The study of the relative power of genetic and environmental influences on behavior and personality traits is known as:
behavior genetics.
Dr. Brooks seeks to account for the substance abuse of her therapy clients in terms of their abusive home environments, their limited sense of life purpose, and the altered functioning of their neurotransmitter systems. Dr. Brooks is most clearly using a(n) ________ approach to understanding addictive behaviors.
biopsychosocial
Spindle
burst of activity
Selective attention is best illustrated by
change blindness
With the approach of night, our body temperatures begin to drop. This best illustrates the dynamics of the:
circadian rhythm
Which of the following psychoactive drugs produces the quickest and most powerful rush of euphoria?
cocaine
Addiction
compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences.
Nicotine triggers a(n) ________ in anxiety and a(n) ________ in mental alertness.
decrease; increase
Alcohol consumption disrupts the processing of recent experiences into long-term memory by
decreasing REM sleep
The large, slow brain waves associated with NREM-3 sleep are called
delta waves
Alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates are all in a class of drugs called____.
depressants
The neural activation theory provides a physiological explanation for
dreaming
Depressants
drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions.
Stimulants
drugs (such as caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy, and methamphetamine) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions.
Barbiturates
drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgment.
Amphetamines
drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes.
A car driver's ability to navigate a familiar route while carrying on an animated conversation with passengers best illustrates the importance of
dual processing
NREM-1
fleeting images
Research most clearly suggests that personality traits are more strongly influenced by ________ than by ________.
genes; home environment
Sleep deprivation increases levels of the hunger-arousing hormone
ghrelin
After sleeping for about an hour, José enters a phase of paradoxical sleep. He is likely to:
have very relaxed muscles.
People who claim to have been abducted by space aliens—often shortly after going to bed—commonly recall being floated off their beds. It is most likely that they have incorporated ________ into their memories.
hypnagogic sensations
Dissociation has been used as an explanation for
hypnotic pain relief.
The unique temperaments of children evoke predictable responses from their caregivers. This best illustrates the ________ of nature and nurture.
interaction
If a genetically based attraction to beautiful people contributes to survival, that trait will likely be passed on to subsequent generations. This best illustrates:
natural selection.
Opiates
opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.
Narcolepsy is associated with a relative absence of a hypothalamic neural center that produces
orexin
Consciousness is:
our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
Those who complain of insomnia typically _______ how long it actually takes them to fall asleep and ________ how long they actually slept.
overestimate; underestimate
Hallucinations similar to those that accompany the near-death experience can be produced by
oxygen deprivation
In order to prevent teens from smoking, intervention programs for youth should first pay attention to the impact of ________ on teen smoking habits.
peer influence
Hallucinogens
psychedelic drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.
Insomnia
recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
In an experiment, hypnotized subjects are told to scratch their ear if they hear the word psychology mentioned later. The fact that they do so only if they think the experiment is still under way most clearly supports the theory that hypnosis involves
role playing
A teenager texting while crossing the street is not likely to notice a car rounding the corner and about to cross her path. This best illustrates the impact of
selective attention
Theta waves
sleep stages 1 and 2, light sleep and day dreaming
Chronic sleep deprivation is most likely to contribute to
suppression of the immune system
The ____ nucleus helps monitor the brain's release of melatonin, which affects our ____ rhythm
suprachiasmatic, circadian
Staying up especially late on weekends is most likely to have an influence on
the circadian rhythm
Tolerance
the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug's effect.
Withdrawal
the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of addictive drug.
To prevent or reduce marijuana use, young people should be educated about
the long-term costs of regular marijuana use.
THC
the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including ild hallucinations.
REM rebound
the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakening during REM sleep).
The simultaneous processing of information on many parallel tracks is most closely associated with
unconscious mental activity
The experience of physical pain following discontinued use of a psychoactive drug best illustrates
withdrawal
